Lent 5
Heb
9:11-15
3/18/18
In Leviticus chapter sixteen, Yahweh
gave to Israel the instruction about what was to be done once a year on the Day
of Atonement. On this day the high priest was to enter the Holy of Holies and
make atonement for the nation. The
Israelites were sinners and the presence of the tabernacle in the midst of
Israel meant that it was being defiled by their sin. This situation had to be addressed..
However, coming into the presence of
the holy God is no small thing. Yahweh said that, “Aaron shall present the bull as a
sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his
house. He shall kill the bull as a sin offering for himself.” First the high priest
was to kill the bull and sprinkle the blood over the mercy seat – the cover of
the Ark of the Covenant – for himself. Then he was to bring the goat that had
been chosen by lot. He was to kill the
goat and sprinkle the blood before and upon the mercy seat. In this way the tabernacle was purified from
the sin of the nation.
Only once a year did the high priest enter
the Holy of Holies – the latter third of the Tabernacle where the Ark of the
Covenant was located. To do so at any other time meant death. But it was also something that needed to be done every year. The sin of the people
was a contagion that had to be removed if Yahweh was continue to dwell in their
midst with the cover of the Ark of the Covenant as his throne.
In the
epistle lesson for today, the writer to the Hebrews discusses the Day of Atonement
as he contrasts where Jesus Christ
did his work on our behalf, how often
he did it and what was used in doing so. He begins by saying, “But when Christ
appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the
greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this
creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the
blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an
eternal redemption.”
In the
previous chapter, the writer to the Hebrews had pointed out how Moses had
received the design for the tabernacle. The decision wasn’t left up to Moses. Instead we are told, “They
serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to
erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, ‘See that you make everything
according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.’”
When we build a church, the options
for the design of the building are really only limited by the budget. Travel around and you will see so many
different styles of church. But this was
not the case for Moses and Israel. When it came time to build the tabernacle,
Moses did not have any such options. Instead Yahweh gave him the pattern that
he was to follow. We learn that this pattern for the tabernacle on earth in
some way reflected the heavenly reality.
We hear later in this chapter, “For
Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of
the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God
on our behalf.”
Our text goes on to say, “he entered once for all into the
holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his
own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.
For
if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the
ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more
will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself
without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the
living God.”
The Old Testament high priest had to
use the blood of animals to be able to enter the Holy of Holies and purify
it. He had to do it once a year. He could only do it once a year. To deviate
from these instructions meant death.
These factors are a reminder to us about the reality of our sin. The ways
that we fear, love and trust in things other than God; the ways we love
ourselves more than our neighbors are sin that not only cut us off from
God. They demand his wrath and judgment.
As the writer to the Hebrews reminds his readers later, “our God is a consuming
fire.”
The blood
of animals on the Day of Atonement was only a temporary solution to the
problem. It was an answer that pointed forward to something far greater. And so we learn in our text that Jesus “entered
once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and
calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.”
The means
by which Jesus Christ entered the heavenly presence of God was his own blood – his
loving sacrifice on the cross. It is in
this way he won redemption for you. He
freed you from the slavery of sin.
Jesus
Christ, true God and true man, offered himself in this way. This had been the goal since the first sin
entered the world and God said to the serpent, “I will put enmity between you
and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise
your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
Because it
was the planned culmination of God dealing with sin; because it was the
sacrifice of the incarnate Son of God, it only
happened once. That’s why our text says, “he
entered once for all into the holy
places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own
blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.”
Later in this chapter the author
goes on to say, “Nor
was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places
every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer
repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared
once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself.”
There were
numerous occasions when the Romans crucified hundreds and even thousands of
people at the same time. Many people died in this humiliating and painful
way. But because of who Jesus is, his
death was different from all the others.
He had been sent by God at a particular moment in time in order to carry
out a work of eternal consequence. His
life, death and resurrection mark the fact that it is now the end of the
ages. We live in eager expectation of
his return on the Last Day.
And now,
because of Jesus Christ, we approach God in confidence. In the next chapter the writer to the Hebrews
says, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places
by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through
the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over
the house of God,
let
us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts
sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”
Through faith in Jesus we know that we can approach God with assurance and confidence.
We do so
because Jesus Christ is our great high priest who has who has appeared in
heaven on our behalf. He entered once and for all by the means his own
blood. And he continues to be our high
priest. Earlier in this letter are told, “Since then we have a great high priest
who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our
confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with
our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet
without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that
we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
This
crucified and risen Lord understands us.
He sympathizes with our weaknesses.
He has experienced temptation. He
gave himself over to death on the cross in order to save us. And so we can
approach him with confidence because we receive mercy and find grace to help in
time of need.
In our text, the writer to the Hebrews does not
think that Jesus’ once and for all sacrifice means nothing more than
forgiveness and salvation for us.
Instead, he works from the lesser to the greater in our text as he
writes, “For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of
defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of
the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal
Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead
works to serve the living God.”
The author
says that the blood of Jesus purifies our conscience from dead works – works
that are not characterized by faith and instead are prompted by sin – so that
we can serve the living God. He says
something similar in the next chapter when he adds that “since we have
confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and
living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his
flesh,
and
since we have a great priest over the house of God …
Let
us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised
is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good
works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but
encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
The once for all sacrifice of Jesus
Christ has given us eternal redemption. He
has freed us to love and serve others.
Our works become truly good in God’s eyes because they are done in
Christ. The once and for all sacrifice of Jesus has become the reason that we
seek to love and serve at all times.
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